Today’ s passage took us from Pantego Creek off the Pungo River at Belhaven into the Pungo River-Alligator River canal (lovingly known as the long straight), to the wider Alligator River, across the Albemarle Sound and into the North River.
It is mostly wild swamp and marshland with a few camps and homes. It is a quiet, desolate, but a beautiful place. We saw lots of wildlife: a black bear cub, a flock of turkey, turtles sunning on logs, bald eagles, a mother duck with ducklings, and an alligator.
These creatures were mostly moving and on the bank so difficult for a slow photographer to capture. Fun to see them though.
We had planned to anchor at the mouth of the Alligator River but we got there and the wind was lovely for a sail across the Albemarle Sound. The wind had just picked up so the waves were not bad and we decided to cross. We saw Point Harbor in the distance where the Williamson’s have their home. We are sad to be missing them by just a few days.
We had several hours until sunset. We could not make it all the way to Coinjock before dark so we decided to anchor in the North River.
I was a little hesitant to anchor there even though we found a deep bay with good mud to anchor in. There were many reviews, including in the waterway guide warning of a potential midge hatch. Apparently these bugs do not bite but will cover the boat, as one review stated, “like a carpet.” Another review said that these bugs “enter every crevice of your boat and turn into a green goo when they die.” He said you will find them for the rest of your boat’s life. Another review stated “pulling up the anchor was a Stephen King moment!”
Most reviews said they had been “bugged” here half the time. They had returned after a bug experience so it could not have been that bad. I was partly horrified and partly curious. We had a good wind blowing toward the land. We decided to take the chance. We closed all the ports and put the screen in the hatch before going to bed. At the time we turned in, there were no bugs yet.
